Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 133

“Why are you here?”

Seongjin couldn’t hide his astonishment, and Orden retorted as he brushed his bangs aside.

“That’s what I’d like to ask you. Where exactly are we?”

“I don’t know. Why are you asking me?”

“I ended up here chasing after Your Highness, so naturally, I thought you might know best, wouldn’t you?”

“You followed me? Why?”

At Seongjin’s question, Orden frowned.

“Well, when the presence of someone who was just fine upstairs suddenly vanishes without a trace, wouldn’t it be normal to go looking for them?”

“…”

Essentially, when Sigurd Sigurdson activated the barrier, to Orden, who was downstairs, it felt as though Seongjin’s presence had suddenly popped out of existence.

It was already bothering him why the prince wasn’t attending the banquet and was on the second floor instead. And when the presence of someone who was just fine disappeared, he had no choice but to go look for him.

“But when I finally got to the second floor, Your Highness was surrounded by something like butterflies. So, I ran towards you, but suddenly I fell somewhere, and when I came to my senses, I was here.”

“Ah…”

This guy, really got himself involved in something completely unnecessary.

Seongjin clicked his tongue.

“You should have just left it alone.”

At those words, Orden’s expression soured significantly.

“How can you say that? Of course, I had to!”

“Hm?”

“Of course, I had to…”

As Seongjin stared intently, Orden trailed off and subtly averted his gaze.

“…pay back the debt I owe to Your Highness.”

Seongjin blinked for a moment.

Could it be, this guy thought something was wrong with me and tried to help in his own way?

“I appreciate the sentiment. But what’s the use if you end up falling here with me?”

It would have been better if he could have dealt with Riccardo somehow.

“That’s…”

“And remember this. If we get out of here thanks to me, you’ll be owing me even more. Got it?”

“…!”

His indignant face is kind of amusing to see.

[What are you, a loan shark? Why does it feel like the principal grows the more he struggles to repay the debt?]

‘Did you think anyone could easily clear their debt to me?’

Well, since we’re here together, might as well try to be of some actual help.

Seongjin chuckled and patted Orden’s shoulder lightly.

At that moment.

〚Would you like to invite %rd□10 to your party?〛

〚Accept / □ecline〛

A broken text window appeared in front of him.

…Huh?

As Seongjin suddenly looked into the air and tilted his head, Orden asked nervously.

“What’s… Is there something?”

“Huh? You can’t see this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hmm…”

After a moment of thought, Seongjin extended his arm towards him and said.

“Hit it.”

“…Excuse me? What do you mean by…”

“Just give my arm a hit.”

“…?”

Orden looked at Seongjin skeptically. But, seeing Seongjin’s clear and unhesitant expression, he hesitantly extended his hand and lightly tapped Seongjin’s sleeve.

And then.

“…What is this?”

It seemed that the text window had finally appeared before Orden’s eyes as well. Since Seongjin couldn’t see it this time, it seemed likely that only the person involved could read it.

“Accept… what?”

As Orden muttered ‘accept’, a new window popped up in front of Seongjin.

Presumably, Orden had read out the part of the text that was legible enough for him.

〚%rd□10 has sent you a party□ invitation. Would you like to accept?〛

〚Accept / □ecline〛

This really feels like a game.

“…Accept.”

Saying so, just in case.

〚You have formed a party□ with %rd□10.〛

Oh, it actually worked. So then?

With a somewhat triumphant expression, Seongjin shouted towards the void.

“System!”

“…?”

“Minimap! World map! Status window! Stats! Party! Quests! Logout! Logout!”

Unfortunately, nothing happened afterward. Perhaps because it’s a broken world, as the Demon King explained, it didn’t function properly.

Even a map would have been greatly helpful in finding our way out of here.

“Your Highness? What exactly are you…”

Confused by the prince’s sudden eccentric behavior, a look of realization dawned on Orden’s face after a moment. It was clear what he was thinking.

Ah, this guy was famously a troublemaker. He must think I’ve lost my mind. Something like that, perhaps.

“Why must embarrassment always fall to my lot!” the Demon King lamented.

Nonetheless, Seongjin felt the need to offer some explanation to Orden, who had inadvertently become entangled in his affairs and was thoroughly bewildered.

“I’m not sure where we are either. But one thing’s for certain: the person who sent us here is none other than Young Master Scarcepino. He cast some unknown spell on me.”

Explaining to Orden that this was another dimension wouldn’t make any sense to him. So, Seongjin started by mentioning the person responsible for their current predicament.

Orden’s demeanor instantly became more aggressive.

“Scarcepino! I knew it had to be him!”

Now that he thought about it, Orden had been suspecting Scarcepino as the mastermind behind the Milo Trading Company.

Seongjin recalled the time Orden had threatened Isabella with a fierce demeanor. Back then, he thought of Orden as someone who lived recklessly on confidence alone.

However, having encountered Orden a few times recently, the impression Seongjin got was that Orden was more rational than initially thought.

“Ever since Riccardo threatened me with the Dark Cult’s emblem, I’ve been suspicious. What does it mean for someone to possess such a suspicious object if not proof of their involvement with the Dark Cult? It wouldn’t be strange at all if such a person resorted to some deceitful trickery.”

Orden’s attendance at the event, despite usually skipping such gatherings, was also for the sake of investigation.

“Especially his sister, Isabella, is even more suspicious. What I discovered while investigating the Milo Trading Company is that the person who frequently interacts with them on behalf of the Scarcepino family is none other than Isabella herself.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And when I subtly brought up the Milo Trading Company and various other matters to her, she brazenly acted as if she knew nothing!”

…That’s unexpected.

“And that’s not all. I happened to meet her at the mansion today, do you know what happened? After acting so scared the other day to gain Princess Amelia’s sympathy, today she approached me with a beaming smile, pretending as if she had no recollection of our previous encounter. Truly a repulsive woman!”

Indeed, that does sound strange.

Seongjin recalled Isabella, who had been hopping around with a sewing pin stuck in her arm.

Hmm, she didn’t seem like someone who could adeptly hide anything.

“…So, what will you do now?”

Having vented his suspicions and seemingly calmed down from his excitement, Orden asked in a slightly subdued voice compared to before.

“Well, we’ll have to look for an exit first.”

Whether it involved dealing with Riccardo or investigating Isabella, they needed to return to Delcross to proceed with anything.

After a brief exchange of opinions with Orden, Seongjin decided to head back in the direction from which Orden had come. Partly because Orden, who had arrived later, might have landed closer to an exit, but more importantly,

“There was a body where I first arrived. I only caught a glimpse, so I’m not certain, but it seemed to be wearing the uniform of the Imperial Guard.”

He too had been in a hurry, detecting Seongjin’s approaching presence and running fast, so he hadn’t had the chance to properly examine the body. That’s why they concluded it would be best to go back and investigate more thoroughly.

Orden seemed to take this rather casually, but for Seongjin, who knew this place wasn’t the main dimension of Delcross, the body held significant implications.

‘If it was the Imperial Guard, does that mean someone from Delcross had crossed over to this place before?’

[Yeah. It’s unlikely that the Dimensional Storyteller moved us here randomly.]

Given the suddenness of the event, it’s probable that they were sent to a place most familiar to him.

Mazes aren’t places one can easily wander into and out of.

It seems likely that the Dimensional Storyteller has an easy means of connecting Delcross with the labyrinth, and such shortcuts are usually anchored to a specific location.

“If we can just find that path, we might be able to return more easily than expected,” the Demon King mentioned, his tone slightly brightening.

With that, Seongjin and Orden started trudging down the dark corridors together.

‘But the more I think about it, the more absurd it seems, doesn’t it?’

[What’s absurd?]

‘Sigurd, that bastard. Inviting the prince of the Holy Empire to his mansion and then openly trying to eliminate him there…’

Especially since sir Masain had clearly seen Seongjin entering the mansion.

Even if they sent the prince to another dimension and completely erased his traces, they couldn’t possibly escape responsibility for his disappearance.

No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like an incredibly impulsive decision, even more so considering Riccardo Scarcepino’s standing afterward.

[Hmm. Maybe the Dimensional Storyteller decided to completely abandon the avatar named Riccardo.]

‘Just like that?’

[It might not have been as simple a matter for him as we think.]

There’s a possibility that Seongjin’s provocation was more fatal to him than expected.

The sudden change in the usually composed demeanor of the Dimensional Storyteller might have been because of what Seongjin said:

—What if I want that? What if I ask my father to deal with you properly?

Just because of that?

[If that becomes a condition where your father can act freely, would you still say ‘just because of that’?]

‘…Fair point.’

Wait, does this mean…

Just like with Commander Bruno’s case, it seems the decisions I make might be more significant than I thought?

Indeed, Dame Sharon had mentioned something along those lines as well.

—”From now on, every single action of Your Highness will serve as a significant milestone determining the course of our Monster Special Task Force.”

Seongjin had an epiphany.

‘Me, somewhat remarkable? Perhaps I’m not just an ordinary person?’

At that, the Demon King snickered.

[Most kids who were born to good parents fall into that kind of delusion.]

‘…What, did you say?’

[Moreover, you’ve been light-years away from ordinary from the start, you psychopath.]

‘Shut up!’

How long had they walked, guided by Orden?

The passage, which seemed like it would be straightforward, surprisingly had forks and sharp turns. The farther they went, the moss on the stone walls seemed to lighten, and the surroundings appeared to gradually brighten.

It felt like they were making the right choices in direction.

“This place is quite complex, but you seem to remember the way you came pretty well.”

To that, Orden replied with a peculiar answer.

“Whenever I came to a fork, I just ran down the middle path.”

“…”

He was unexpectedly simple.

“We just need to turn at that corner.”

And finally, they arrived in front of a vast cavern. The entrance was open, allowing a clear view inside.

Delicate carvings surrounded the entrance, exuding an atmosphere that was anything but ordinary.

“I was inside there.”

With those words, Orden strode towards the entrance.

Seongjin glanced inside the cavern, but it was too dim to discern its full extent. However, judging by the echo of air returning from the empty space, it seemed to be quite spacious.

Orden, noticing Seongjin’s hesitation, reassured him once more.

“It’s alright. Earlier, there was nothing but a single corpse around.”

“Hmm, alright then.”

In that case.

Pushing aside an uneasy premonition, Seongjin followed Orden.

But just as they crossed the entrance together, Seongjin’s vision was suddenly interrupted by a notification sound and a text window popping up.

〚Party□ □ntry detected. Lai□□roph Lord has been regene□ed.〛

“…Huh?”

Whatever it was, it didn’t feel promising.

Orden, too, seemed startled and halted, indicating he might have seen the same window.

“What is this…”

And both Seongjin and Orden tensed up simultaneously, drawing their swords from their waists.

Grrrrr…

In the cavern, where there had been nothing just a moment ago, a low-frequency growl resonated from its depths. Suddenly, two glowing red eyes appeared, emitting a fierce light from beyond the darkness.